Not many letters were written today.. But never fear, your column is here never the less. I'm a bit tired, so on to the letters.

Chrono Trigger Confusion

Zac (whose Starcraft skills surpass mine),
I know you're not exactly the guy to ask, but I was wondering about
something.
The story about the Chrono Trigger port on GIA says that there will be anime
sequences throughout the entire game. RPGamer's says that there's only
opening and ending movies. Do you know which one is closer to the truth, or
is it just too early to tell?

- Aeon Phoenix

Zac:
This is indeed a case of conflicting news coverage. It is simply too early to tell, we'll know for sure when Square gives the official word.

ION Storm Punctuality

Zac
ION storm finish a game? Not in our lifetime. They've been working on
Daikatana for friggin forever, it's original release was December 1997 (not
that I care about Daikatana, i heard it looked horrible when they showed it
on tape at E3, so bad they had to take the tape off on the 3rd day at E3).
-Dark Paladin
P.S. Do you think that console-style RPG's could work on the PC, and maybe
even utilize some features that PC-style RPG's use, like complete control
over character creation?

Zac:
Indeed our friends at ION Storm are notorious for not finishing games, and I agree on what you have to say about Daikatana - the game almost sickens me it is so sorry. Still I am very anxious to see a working copy of Anachronox, and play it. From what we've seen so far in graphics and storyline, it looks extraordinary.
PC RPGs in themselves are not unlike console RPGs, they only tend to lean more towards purely dynamic storyline and less rigid plot. I do think that a lot could be done to reach a wider audience by combining our traditional console RPGs with some of the modern innovations in the PC world.

I Stand Corrected

Hey Zac,
I'm sure JD would get in a rut after hearing you say there are no good rpgs
on turbo grafx. Maybe your forgetting a little series called Y's....??
It also has Dracula X: Rondo of Blood, which isn't an rpg, but is a reason
to own a turbo grafx and a turbo duo in it's self. Turbo Grafx is one of my
favorite systems. Oh yeah and play dreamcast on a monitor and you'll see a
HUGE difference between sonic and banjo-kazooie (not to mention the
difference between having sonic in the game and a bear that looks like it
came off a cereal box.) Since this is a Q&A, i'll ask you a couple
questions.
1. What do you think will be the best dreamcast rpg? (discluding shen mue,
which isn't really an rpg.)
2. What's the best bet for a computer rpg that's coming out later this
year?

Zac:
Actually I'd like to take a moment and apologize to all TB16 owners, even though I never played any of the TB16 RPG's, apparently many of them are considered high quality on both the card and CD platforms (mostly CD). And when I played Sonic Adventure, I played it on a TV screen, which is what most people play their games on, not a computer monitor. Since computer monitors have better resolution, it would stand to reason Sonic would look better, but so would Banjo Kazooie. The point I stress here is that for a next-generation system one would expect to be much more impressed with the Dreamcast's graphics.
1) I'm really looking forward to seeing Asheron's Call from Turbine Games, I am glad console and PC are merging somewhat. As clarification, Asheron's Call will be the first online RPG for a console system.
2) That's a really tough call, but I'll have to lean towards Planescape: Torment from Black Isle. That game is gonna be sweet!

Fay Victus!

Dear Zac,
I just picked up Soul Reaver (which is amazing, by the way), and
after plowing through it, I was inspired enough to play the original
Legacy of Kain, since there were so many references to the first. I
noticed that Kain says "Fay Victus" at key points in the game. usually
when he is slaughtering vampires, and what not. Any idea what this
means?
Oh, and by the way, are any of you as pissed off at Square as I am
now that they decided to remake Chrono Trigger, but only add anime
cutscenes!? I mean, what were they thinking? They could have made an
already wonderful RPG even better by adding more to the story line,
enhanced graphics, music etc.

- Charles

Zac:
I believe Kain is denouncing those who triumphed where he faltered, hence "Fall Victorious" or something along those lines. Whatever he's saying, it sounds really cool, doesn't it?
I for one don't really care that they're adding cutscenes, at all. I think it's a big to-do about nothing, but I'm sure people will buy it, especially if they do not own or have not played the original Chrono Trigger.

Policy Change

Hi Zac,
A night or two before you were hired I was in #RPGamer and I was begging
for them to put Fallout coverage on the site. Well it took 3 employees
and a mild sedative for them to convince me that there was no way
RPGamer's would cover ANY PC RPG, never mind fallout. What has caused
this drastic change in RPGamer's policies?

- Luppy Luptonium

Zac:
The desire to appease the needs of RPGamers everywhere brought me on to the staff. Why cover all platforms but one? RPGs are a growing genre on PCs, and there's no denying the power of the platform. RPGamer is moving with the industry, and will continue to do so.

Justification for NoA?

Hey Zac,
Sometimes NIntendo of America screws stuff up. I blame Howard Lincoln basically. If you check a lot of OLD issues of Nintendo Power closely.. you'll notice that Final Fantasy 5 WAS going to be coming out as FF3; but was inexplicably cut. FF 2 and 3 from Japan were not released here because of their similarity to the first; according to Nintendo. I dunno about that... Anyways, any RPG starved people should buy a Game Boy Color. Imean, Azure Dreams, Lufia: Ruins Chaser, those six Legend of Zelda games, Revelations: Demon Slayer (Out Monday!), Survival Kids, Towers: Lord Banieff's Deception, etc. Oh, on a scary thought... somewhere around NIntendo's offices is a TRANSLATED copy of Mother 1 for the NES called "Earth Bound". Check out the game lists in Issues 21 through 23 of Nintendo Power.. you'll be surprised and a little saddened. But it's actually NOT Nintendo's fault. They ran polls and no one voted for Earth Bound or the sequel to Golgo 13. So.. they figured it wouldn't sell and didn't release it. And for those who thought Nintendo was "goody-two-shoe". The reason for that is because of Issue 2 of Nintendo Power; the wave of parental complaints basically made Nintendo want to "clean up their act". So... stuff has been censored heavily for a long time. Thank goodness that Nintendo has finally started to crawl out of that censorship shell. (Thinks about Turok and Shadowman...)

- Philip Wesley

Zac:
I was never polled. Polls are very innacurate. And the censorship thing is really a long time coming, it really hurts the storyline for many of our favorite RPGs, and is one of the reasons for destroying the RPG genre on the N64.

Run Down

Zac,
1.) You like PC games? Are you gonna get Tiberian Sun? Are you as sleep
deprived as me? Do you keep that countdown from Westwood's website up on
your computer all the time? Am I alone?
2.) Ok, time for an RPG question? Have you ever ployed any Dragon Quest
games? Nintendo is probably gonna rerelease DW 1 and 2 on GameBoy, but
you don't have a GameBoy, do you? Well, a used NES, Dragon Warrior and
Dragon Warrior 2 is 20 + 10 + 20 = about $50. Get it now!
3.) Is the N64 ever gonna get a single RPG? Zelda doesn't count. OB is
never gonan come out, and EB is still like a year off. So ask you, is
it? Well, at least F-Zero X is fun.
4.) Are you more single player or Online for PC RPGs? Frankly I think
Everquest and Ultima are the biggest f***ing rip offs on the planet.

- Mike "Mmm.. insomnia" Dore

Zac:
1) I will get Tiberian Sun, of course. But I'm not obsessed about it. It is, after all, just another RTS game.
2) I am a proud owner of a game boy, and I have DW1, 2, and 3 and I borrowed DW4 from a friend long ago, and I agree that it is a great series. I'm excited about DQ7, too bad I don't have a playstation to play it on.
3) Quest 64 was an RPG. Not a good RPG, but it was an RPG (they just didn't put in a trading system, it was really easy, and the story is PLAYED).
4) I don't have time for the online RPGs, they're too addicting, and cost too much money. But they are tres cool, and if you have the time, money, and interest, a lot of them are really cool. I recommend Dark Ages and Everquest, and I look forward to Asheron's Call in wide release.

Run Down

Yo Zac,
1. I like your surname. I am not a female fan. No, don't go there.
Please don't.
2. Those hentai comments yesterday were uncalled for. Hentai is only
for Q&A men and people who live in closets. I can't remember the last
time I was let out of my closet.
3. I read in the comics today that there is going to be a Super Mario
RPG 2... actually come out in Australia. Any backup on this? Haven't
seen it on your site.
4. What is a rimshot?

- Kupi

Zac:
1) Uh.. thanks?
2) Well, at least I didn't post a few examples for clarification.
3) In the comics? Well, I think there's going to be a SMB2, but with Nintendo, can you ever tell?
4) A rimshot sounds like so: "dodossisssst".. They play them on drums, after someone says something humorous. You know what I mean, don't pretend you don't ^_^

Hello Zac,
Since you said you'll still waiting for someone to send you a psx, well wait
no more. Since i live in Arkansas it going to be delivered by donkey. It
sould reach there in about 8 years.
-Simple Simon

I'll be waiting patiently at my doorstep.

"Zac! Zac! He's a Lego Ma-ni-ac! Zac! Zac! He's a Lego Ma-ni-ac!"
...God, I rember that commercial when I was like 6. I feel really old.

Ah, the good old days.

Hey, how are ya, Zac? Just introducing myself... I'm Dhenji.. mostly seen
in dark alleys beating the crap out of bad guys with his sidekick, Hot Dog

Don't blame me if you get busted for indecent exposure again, "crimefighter".

Zac,
Are you coming back?
- General Question

Maybe. (does that make me seem mysterious?)

There's weekend two.. Today's column turned out to be better than I expected, sorry if it was a little bland, but I make do with what I get from you readers. Enjoy your JD this week,